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Johannesburg - Dean Burmester claimed his maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour when he won the inaugural Polokwane Classic by four strokes at the Polokwane Golf Club on Saturday.
Burmester came from four off the lead at the start of the final round and closed with a 68 to win on 12 under par, becoming the second player in as many weeks on the Sunshine Tour to claim a maiden victory.
Merrick Bremner and Justin Harding shared second place on eight under. Titch Moore, who led going into the last round, finished fourth on seven under with a closing 77 that was in stark contrast to the great golf he'd played for 36 holes.
Moore was reeling after four bogeys in his first six holes that opened the door for the rest of the field. Burmester needed only a single birdie in that stretch to go from four behind to a one-stroke lead.
"I saw Titch was a little jittery after his start," Burmester said.
"I just kept telling myself that with the wind blowing like it was, I just needed to focus on my pars and the birdies would come on their own."
He took a one-stroke lead into the back nine, and then three birdies and just one bogey carried him to victory.
"It's been a long time coming. I've tried to stay patient and I managed to pull it through this week," Burmester said.
"I made a few putts in the beginning and that settled the nerves. Then when I took the lead on my own I knew I could do this.
"I've worked on my mental game more than anything else."
As much as Moore gave him the opportunity, Burmester played impressive golf to take the win, highlighted by his birdie on the par-four 15th.
After his tee shot finished in the rough way right, and with trees and a water hazard between him and the hole, Burmester hit an incredible wedge to within a foot of the hole and made birdie.
"That was quite a naughty little shot. I couldn't have hit it better," he said.
"I went four ahead there, and as much as you try and stay in the moment, you do start thinking about the victory then already."
Scores after the final round of the Polokwane Classic, (RSA unless otherwise specified):
204 - Dean Burmester 69 67 68
208 - Merrick Bremner 72 69 67, Justin Harding 69 67 72
209 - Titch Moore 65 67 77
210 - Mark Murless 74 69 67, Heinrich Bruiners 66 73 71
211 - JJ Senekal 71 70 70, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 69 70 72, Pieter Moolman 71 68 72
212 - Andrew Curlewis 71 73 68, Graham van der Merwe 70 71 71, Beyers Smith 68 73 71
213 - Peter Karmis 71 73 69, Chris Erasmus 74 69 70, Keith Horne 73 69 71, Thabo Maseko 72 70 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 71 71 71,Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN) 71 70 72
214 - Mark Williams 73 72 69, Erik van Rooyen 69 75 70, Henk Alberts 76 68 70, Derik Ferreira 71 72 71, Divan Gerber 73 67 74
215 - Martin du Toit 71 74 70, PH McIntyre 73 71 71, Ulrich van den Berg 77 66 72, Jacques van Tonder 68 73 74, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 70 69 76
216 - Jean Hugo 70 75 71
217 - Drikus van der Walt 69 76 72, Neil Schietekat 76 69 72, Wallie Coetsee 75 69 73, Alan Michell 70 73 74, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 74 74,James Kamte 74 69 74
218 - Michiel Bothma 73 72 73, Shaun Ellis 74 70 74, Morne Buys 71 72 75
219 - Jake Redman 71 73 75, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 72 72 75, Alex Haindl 70 74 75, Clifford Howes 69 74 76
220 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 70 75 75
221 - Jacques Blaauw 74 66 81
222 - Dayne Moore (ZAM) 72 72 78
223 - Drikus Bruyns 74 71 78
